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Replica of an oracle bone -- turtle shell

Oracle bones (Chinese: 甲骨; pinyin: jiǎgǔpiàn) are pieces of bone or turtle shell used in royal divination from the mid Shang to early Zhou dynasties in ancient China, and often bearing written inscriptions in what is called oracle bone script. Image File history File links Merge-arrow. ... Oracle bone script (Chinese: 甲骨文; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally shell bone writing) refers to incised (or, rarely, brush-written) ancient Chinese characters found on oracle bones, which are animal bones or turtle shells used in divination in ancient China. ... Image File history File links Zhongwen. ... The UTF-8-encoded Japanese Wikipedia article for mojibake, as displayed in ISO-8859-1 encoding. ... Japanese name Kanji: Hiragana: Korean name Hangul: Hanja: Vietnamese name Quốc ngữ: Hán tá»±: A Chinese character or Han character (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a logogram used in writing Chinese, Japanese, rarely Korean, and formerly Vietnamese. ... Download high resolution version (422x640, 143 KB)Oracle shell with inscriptions This is a replica of an oracle turtle shell with ancient Chinese oracle scripts inscribed on it. ... Download high resolution version (422x640, 143 KB)Oracle shell with inscriptions This is a replica of an oracle turtle shell with ancient Chinese oracle scripts inscribed on it. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... This article is about the skeletal organs. ... Various seashells Danielle A shell is the hard, rigid outer covering, or integument, allanimals. ... For other uses, see Divination (disambiguation). ... Remnants of advanced, stratified societies dating back to the Shang period have been found in the Yellow River Valley. ... This article is about the ancient Chinese dynasty. ... Oracle bone script (Chinese: 甲骨文; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally shell bone writing) refers to incised (or, rarely, brush-written) ancient Chinese characters found on oracle bones, which are animal bones or turtle shells used in divination in ancient China. ...

Discovery

The Shang-dynasty oracle bones were unearthed in 19th-century China, and were sold as dragon bones (lóng gǔ 龍骨) in the traditional Chinese medicine markets, used either whole or crushed for the healing of various ailments, including knife wounds. They were not recognized as bearing ancient Chinese writing until 1899, when they fell into the hands of two scholars, Wáng Yìróng (王懿榮) (1845-1900), who according to one legend was sick with malaria, and his friend Liú È (刘鶚) (1857-1909), who was visiting and helped examine his medicine. They discovered, before it was ground into powder, that it bore strange glyphs, which they recognized as ancient writing. Word spread among collectors of antiquities, and the market for oracle bones exploded. Decades of uncontrolled digs followed, and many of these pieces eventually entered collections in Europe, the US and Japan. Chinese materia medica (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the common name of Chinese materia medica subject. ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. ...

Upon the establishment of the Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica in 1928, the source of the oracle bones was traced back to modern Xiaotun (小屯) village near Anyang in Henan Province. Official archaeological excavations in 1928-1937 led by Li Ji (李济) discovered 20,000 oracle bone pieces, which now form the bulk of the Academia Sinica's collection in Taiwan. The inscriptions on the oracle bones, once deciphered, turned out to be the records of the divinations performed for or by the royal household. These together proved beyond a doubt for the first time the existence of the Shang Dynasty and the location of its last capital. The writing on them is also the earliest significant corpus of Chinese writing, and is essential for the study of Chinese etymology, as it is directly ancestral to the modern script. The Academia Sinica (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), headquartered in the Nan-kang district () of Taipei, is the national academy for Taiwan. ... Anyang (Simplified Chinese: 安阳, Traditional Chinese: 安陽; pinyin: Ä€nyáng) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... Various styles of Chinese calligraphy. ... Etymologies redirects here. ...

Usage

Replica of an oracle bone -- ox scapula

The oracle bones are mostly ox scapulae (shoulder blades) and turtle shells, although some other animal bones, and even the skulls of deer and humans were sometimes used. Both the dorsal or back shell (carapace) and ventral or belly shell (plastron) of turtles were used, and since these are actually a bony material, the term "oracle bones" is applied to them as well. Download high resolution version (398x640, 146 KB)Oracle bone with inscriptions This is a replica(?) of a oracle bone with ancient Chinese oracle scripts inscribed on it. ... Download high resolution version (398x640, 146 KB)Oracle bone with inscriptions This is a replica(?) of a oracle bone with ancient Chinese oracle scripts inscribed on it. ... For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... Left scapula - front view () Left scapula - rear view () In anatomy, the scapula, or shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). ... For other uses, see Turtle (disambiguation). ... The term carapace refers to a dorsal section of an exoskeleton or shell, in a number of animal groups. ... The plastron is the nearly flat part of the shell structure of a tortoise, what we would call the belly, similar in composition to the carapace; with an external layer of horny material divided into plates called scutes and an underlying layer of interlocking bones. ...

The bones or shells were prepared for use by sawing and smoothing them, and notations were often made on them recording their provenance (e.g. tribute of how many shells from where and on what date). These notations were generally made on the back of the shell's bridge (called bridge notations), the lower carapace or the xiphiplastron (tail edge). Scapula notations were near the socket or a lower edge. Some of these were not carved after being written with a brush, proving (along with other evidence) the use of the writing brush in Shang times.

Pits or hollows were then drilled or chiseled partway through the bone, and a topic was divined upon during a ceremony, during which a heat source was applied into one of the pits until the bone cracked at that point. Due to the shape of the pit, the front side of the bone cracked in a rough 卜 shape. The character 卜 (pinyin: bǔ; Old Chinese: *puk; "to divine") may be a pictogram of such a crack; the reading of the character may also be an onomatopoeia for the cracking. A number of cracks were typically made in one session, and the diviner in charge of the ceremony, who was sometimes the Shang king himself, then read the cracks to learn the answer to the divination. How exactly the cracks were interpreted is not known. The topic of divination was raised multiple times, and often in different ways, such as in the negative, or by changing the date being divined about. One oracle bone might be used for one session, or for many, and one session could be recorded on a number of bones. The question was nearly always posed in a yes or no format, so that the divined answer would be either "auspicious" or "inauspicious." The Seal script characters for harvest (later year) and person. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the supervillain, see Onomatopoeia (comics). ...

The inscriptions are fairly formulaic, generally "(on) AB date (using the sexagenary cycle), divination was performed by person C regarding (topic)". Additional inscriptions include notations as to provenance of the bones or shells, numbering of the cracks made, annotations as to their auspiciousness, proclamations as to the conclusion of the divination session, and sometimes verifications of whether a future event indeed came to pass. The topics, and sometimes the answers, are then thought to have been brush-written on the oracle bones or accompanying documents, later to be carved in a workshop. A few of the oracle bones found still bear their brush-written records, without carving, while some have been found partially carved. The Chinese sexagenary cycle (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a cyclic numeral system of 60 combinations of the two basic cycles, the ten Heavenly Stems (天干; tiāngān) and the twelve Earthly Branches (地支; dìzhī). These have been traditionally used as a means of numbering days and years, not only in China...

This kind of divination, involving the application of heat or fire, is called pyromancy; when applied to a scapula or plastron, it is also termed scapulimancy or plastromancy respectively. The divination questions or topics were often directed at ancestors, whom the ancient Chinese revered and worshiped, as well as natural powers and Dì (帝), the highest god in the Shang society. A wide variety of topics were asked, essentially anything of concern to the royal house of Shang, from illness, birth and death, to weather, warfare, agriculture, tribute and so on. One of the most common topics was whether performing rituals in a certain manner would be satisfactory. Pyromancy (from Greek pyros, fire, and manteia, divination) is the art of divination by means of fire. ... Scapulimancy (also spelled scapulomancy and scapulamancy, and also termed omoplatoscopy ) is the practice of divination by use of scapulae (shoulder blades). ... Plastromancy is a form of divination using the plastron, or undershell of a turtle. ...

Evidence of pyromancy and scapulomancy in ancient China extends back to the 4th millennium BCE, with finds from Liaoning, but these were not inscribed. Evidence of scapulomancy with inscriptions may date back to the pre-Shang site of Erligang (二里崗) in Zhengzhou, Henan, where burned scapula of oxen, sheep and pigs were found, and one bone fragment from a pre-Shang layer is inscribed with a graph (ㄓ) corresponding to Shang script.   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Liáoníng) is a northeastern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Zhengzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), formerly called Zhengxian (traditional form: Chengchow) , is a prefecture-level city and the capital of Henan province, Peoples Republic of China. ...

However, significant quantities of inscribed oracle bones date only to the middle of the Shang Dynasty, probably in the reign of Pangeng, around 1350 BCE when the Shang capital was moved to Yin at modern Anyang. The vast majority date to around the 13th to 11th centuries BCE, or late Shāng. The oracle bones are not the earliest writing in China. A few Shāng bronzes with extremely short inscriptions predate them. However, the oracle bones are considered the earliest significant body of writing, due to the length of the inscriptions, the vast amount of vocabulary (very roughly 4000 graphs), and the sheer quantity of pieces found (now well over 100,000). There are also graphs found inscribed or brush-written on Neolithic period pottery shards, but whether or not these constitute writing or are ancestral to the Shang writing system is currently a matter of great academic controversy. Pan Geng (盤庚) moved the capital of the Shang Dynasty to Yinxu, which today is at Anyang; in Henan Province, China. ...

After the Zhou conquest, the Shang practices of bronze casting, pyromancy and writing continued. Oracle bones found in the 1970s have been dated to the Zhou dynasty, with some dating to the spring and autumn period. However, very few of those were inscribed. It is thought that other methods of divination supplanted pyromancy, such as numerological divination using milfoil (yarrow) in connection with the hexagrams of the I Ching. Yarrow redirects here. ... Alternative meaning: I Ching (monk) The I Ching (Traditional Chinese: 易經, pinyin y jīng; Cantonese IPA: jɪk6gɪŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping: jik6ging1; alternative romanizations include I Jing, Yi Ching, Yi King) is the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. ...

References

• Keightley, David N. (1978). Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-02969-0; Paperback 2nd edition (1985) ISBN 0-520-05455-5.
• Keightley, David N. (2000). The Ancestral Landscape: Time, Space, and Community in Late Shang China (ca. 1200 – 1045 B.C.). China Research Monograph 53, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-070-9.
• Qiu Xigui (裘錫圭) (2000). Chinese Writing. Translation of 文字学概要 by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-071-7.
• Xu Yahui (許雅惠 Hsu Ya-huei) (2002). Ancient Chinese Writing, Oracle Bone Inscriptions from the Ruins of Yin. Illustrated guide to the Special Exhibition of Oracle Bone Inscriptions from the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica. English translation by Mark Caltonhill and Jeff Moser. National Palace Museum, Taipei. Govt. Publ. No. 1009100250.

v • d • e Time in religion and mythology
Major subjects	Time — Cosmology · Religion · Mythology — Eternity · Arguments for eternity · Immortality Destiny and fate · Predestination · Religious predestination · Prophecy · Oracle · Divination · Eschatology	Time Portal
Time and fate deities of antiquity	Egyptian — Hemsut · Huh Ancient Near East — Ashima · Ishtar · Mamitu · Mammetun · Manah · Manu the Great · Meni Greek — The Fates: Moirae — Atropos · Clotho · Lachesis Mark Caltonhill, a British translator and writer, is the author of Private Prayers and Public Parades - Exploring the Religious Life of Taipei, an English-language book published by the Department of Information, Taipei City Government, Taiwan. ... This article is about the concept of time. ... Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) order + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the Universe in its totality, and by extension, humanitys place in it. ... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existing for an infinite, i. ... Arguments for eternity composed a particularly important area of philosophical debate among Greek, Jewish, Islamic, and Christian philosophers during the ancient and medieval periods. ... The Fountain of Eternal Life in Cleveland, Ohio Immortality (or eternal life) is the concept of living in physical or spiritual form for an infinite length of time, or in a state of timelessness. ... For other uses, see Destiny (disambiguation). ... Predestination (also linked with foreknowledge) is a religious concept, which involves the relationship between the beginning of things and their destinies. ... Types of religious predestination Described in terms of human freedom Predestination may be described under two types, with the basis for each found within their definition of free will. ... For other uses, see Prophecy (disambiguation). ... This article is about prophetic oracles in various cultures. ... For other uses, see Divination (disambiguation). ... For the eschatological beliefs of various religions, see End Times. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... In Egyptian mythology, Hemsut (or Hemuset) was the goddess of fate and protection. ... Not to be confused with Hu (god). ... In the Hebrew Bible, Ashima is one of several deities protecting the individual cities of Samaria who are mentioned specifically by name in 2 Kings 17:30. ... For other uses, see Ishtar (disambiguation). ... In Akkadian and Sumerian mythology Mamitu was the goddess of destiny, who decreed the fate of the new-borns. ... Manāt was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. ... Meni was the pan-Semitic god of destiny. ... For other meanings, see Fate, a disambiguation page. ... Atropos is also a British entomological journal - see Atropos (journal). ... In Greek mythology, Clotho or Klotho, the Greek word Κλωθώ for spinner, was the youngest of the Moirae (the Fates). ... In Greek mythology, Lachesis (also Lakhesis: Gk. ... Ananke · Geras · Horae · Khronos · Tyche Roman — The Fates: Parcae — Decima · Morta · Nona In Greek mythology, Ananke (Greek ) was the personification of destiny, unalterable necessity and fate. ... Geras, detail of an Attic red-figure pelike, ca. ... Horae in Meyers, 1888 In Greek mythology, the Horae were three goddesses controlling orderly life. ... For other uses, see Chronos (disambiguation). ... Tyche on the reverse of this coin by Gordian III. In Greek mythology, Tyche (Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. ... In Greek mythology, the white-robed Moirae or Moerae (Greek Μοίραι – the Apportioners, often called the Fates) were the personifications of destiny (Roman equivalent: Parcae, sparing ones, or Fatae; also equivalent to the Germanic Norns). ... In Roman mythology, Morta was the goddess of death. ... In Roman mythology, Nona was the equivalent of Clotho in Greek mythology. ... Camenae: Antevorte/Porrima · Carmenta · Egeria · Postverta Aeternitas · Anna Perenna · Chronos · Fortuna · Vertumnus Etruscan — Nortia Norse — Fates: Dís, Norns — Skuld · Verdandi · Wyrd Bavarian — Fates: Beten Baltic — Dalia · Lauma Polish — Sudz Romanian — Fates: Ursitoare Other European — Matres · Father Time In Roman mythology, the Camenae were originally goddesses of springs, wells and fountains, or water nymphs of Venus . ... In Roman mythology, Antevorte was the goddess of the future. ... Porrima can refer to: In Roman mythology, Porrima was a goddess and one of the two Carmentes (along with the goddess Postverta). ... In Roman mythology, Carmenta was the goddess of childbirth and prophecy, associated with technological innovation as well as the protection of mothers and children, and a patron of midwives. ... In Roman mythology, the goddess Egeria (of the black poplar) was a goddess of childbirth, wisdom and prophecy and was one of the Camenae. ... In Roman mythology, Postverta was the goddess of the past and one of the two Carmentes (along with the goddess Porrima). ... Aeternitas on an antoninianus by Trebonianus Gallus. ... Anna Perenna was an old Roman deity of the circle or ring of the year, as the name (per annum) clearly indicates. ... For other uses, see Chronos (disambiguation). ... Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of Carmina Burana In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) goddess of fortune, was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind... In Roman mythology, Vertumnus (Vortumnus, Vertimnus) was the god of seasons, change and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees. ... In Etruscan mythology, Nortia was the goddess of fate and chance. ... The dying Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok exclaimed in Krákumál: the dísir invite me home (to Valhalla). This is an illustration of a lady welcoming Odin back to Valhalla on the Tängvide image stone, Gotland. ... Look up Norns in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In Norse mythology, Skuld was one of the Norns, and she was also one of the Valkyries. ... In Norse mythology, Verdandi (ON: Verðandi), also known as Verthandi, is one of the three norns, along with Urd and Skuld. ... Wyrd is a concept in ancient Anglo-Saxon and Nordic cultures roughly corresponding to fate. ... The triple spiral has been cast by some theorists, such as Marija Gimbutas, as a symbol of the Triple Goddess. ... In Lithuanian mythology, Dalia is the goddess of weirding and doom. ... Lauma, in Baltic mythology, is a woodland faery, and guardian spirit of orphans. ... Sudz is a Polish god of destiny and glory. ... In Romanian mythology, the three Ursitoare are supposed to appear three nights after a childs birth to determine the course of its life. ... The Matres or Matronae were ancient deities venerated in northwestern Europe in Roman and earlier times. ... This article is about the personification of time. ... Philippine — Kan-Laon
Hinduism	Kālī · Mahakali · Mahākāla (Shiva) · Kāla (time) Hindu calendar
Buddhism	Wheel of time · Kalachakra · Maitreya
Judaism	Ancient of Days · Ein Sof (Kabbalah) Hebrew calendar · Missing years · Jewish holidays · Passover · Shabbat
Christianity	Gregorian calendar · Liturgical year · Sabbath in Christianity Easter · Computus · Moveable feast · Easter controversy · Quartodecimanism · Reform of the date of Easter
Islam	Islamic calendar · Muslim holidays · Predestination in Islam
Other traditions	Dreamtime / The Dreaming · Oracle bone · Maya calendar
Related topics	Days of the week